For this particular phone there is no other choice. Remember, even though Droid is available on many carriers in the US, individual phones that run Droid are often carrier-specific. Of course internationally the iPad is available on many carriers, and any of them could screw up too.
Right, but google isn’t locking you into Verizon as their ONLY partner for service. Apple and ATT in the US are one entity when it comes to iPad/iPhone. To try and deny that is just showing you’re willing to defend apple at any cost.